Following a relaxing summer break, Manor Racing Team Director Dave Ryan is raring to get back into the F1 action at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, and is pleased that his staff have returned looking fresh and ready to go after a hard-going first few rounds of the season.

“It’s great to see the team looking refreshed and ready for action again.

“It was a pretty intense first half of the season and the next nice races will bring their own pressures, so it’s really good that everyone got to kick back and spend time with family doing normal everyday things that they don’t often get the chance to do.”

With a new driver on the books, in the form of Mercedes AMG PETRONAS backed Esteban Ocon, it will be an intense and hectic first weekend back on the job for the Banbury based squad, but Ryan is confident that the Frenchman will take it all in his stride.

“We saw Esteban just before the break, when he came to the factory, met the team, had his first seat fit and we ran through how we work things. He came back to Banbury for a couple of days earlier this week and seems to have slotted in really well.

“There’s a lot for him to learn and get to grips with, but he seems very calm and measured, and he’s soaking it all up.”

Having overtaken the Sauber F1 Team in the Constructor’s Championship, after driver Wehrlein put in a strong drive to secure the squad’s first point of the year by finishing tenth at the Austrian Grand Prix, Manor are now looking to stay ahead of the Hinwil based squad for the remainder of the season.

Director Ryan is confident that they will be able to achieve that goal, with further updates already in the pipeline, and a strong team ethic focused on making it happen.

“We need to keep pushing hard to achieve our objective of finishing in at least 10th place in the Championship.

“We have some updates yet to come and two hungry drivers focused on the team goal. It’s a busy few months ahead with nine rounds in 14 weekends, but I hope we can see good progress on track in that time and enjoy the rest of the season.”